The question is: Will politicians be able to ignore the violence against student and citizens, or will they start to address it? Will especially President Barack Obama, a man who in 2008 inspired many progressives with his message of hope and change, feel compelled to address the issue?

This question is justified, because when it came to violent police actions in the Middle East for example during the recent uprisings in Egypt, President Obama as well as Hillary Clinton had no hesitation to repeatedly condemn the actions of the Egyptian police. So should very similar actions be justified in the USA and elsewhere, just because they were done in the name of "democracy?" The same applies of course for violent police actions against the OWS movement in other countries, for example in Australia and the UK.

"Dear Mr. President: Will You Please Speak Up About Police Assaulting Protesters On College Campuses?"

Kornbluth writes:

Let me set aside the distressing irony that protesters in, say, Tahrir Square in Cairo last spring were, in the main, better treated by repressive authorities than protesters on a California campus.

Let me just talk politics.

Specifically, this: What would I do if I were president and running for re-election?

Let me go a bit further...

What would I do if I were running for re-election and I knew the Republicans were mounting a nationwide campaign to disenfranchise as many minority voters as possible?

What would I do if I were running for re-election and knew that many of my core supporters in 2008 felt disrespected and ignored by my Administration?

And, finally, what would I do if I were running for re-election and I had even the vaguest idea how many kids go to college and how many families back home were worrying about them -- and how many of those kids and parents considered themselves Democrats?

In that situation, I think -- again, I'm just making a political calculation here --- I'd take the opportunity to speak out about what happened at UC Davis.

(...)

Mr. President, making a short speech like this should not be a tough call.

There comes a time, sir, when we must stand up and be counted --- or have our silence counted as its own kind of speech.

I'm sure there are many Americans --- not just college kids, their parents and their professors --- who would be grateful if you would remind us all of the right to assemble peacefully.

Some, perhaps, might even see that as a reason to vote for you.

Sincerely,

Jesse Kornbluth

So what should the answer be? Does "democracy" provide a permit for police brutality, for violent actions which are such so excessive that even conservative reporters complain about being assaulted by the police without any reason?

Such an attitude is dangerous, and in the days of the internet where the brutality of the police is available for everyone to see, also unsustainable. A democracy is different from an authoritarian regime because it respects dissenting voices, and citizens in a democracy can expect from their political leaders that they acknowledge this fact and step in when excessive behaviour takes place.

We expect more from President Obama, and he should be the one to address the real issue -that there is a movement which exists for good reasons, and that these people have a right to protest with the full protection of the US constitution and the law.

"I want to be very clear in calling upon the Egyptian authorities to refrain from any violence against peaceful protesters. The people of Egypt have rights that are universal. That includes the right to peaceful assembly and association, the right to free speech, and the ability to determine their own destiny. These are human rights. And the United States will stand up for them everywhere." —President Barack Obama

Yes, "everywhere."

+++UPDATE 2:

From the comments I can see that this is a controversial topic. While it is certainly correct that the police in the USA is governed on the state and local levels, there seems to be one misunderstanding. We don't believe that President Obama is to blame or that he should be held accountable - we just think that he should make a statement, as a representative of the people, and I believe that he could very well demand from state and local authorities in a speech that the right to a peaceful protest and the freedom of assembly should be recognized and should be protected. After all, it is a constitutional right.

Well, it turns out that I have to brush up my knowledge about the type of weapons the police usually carry these days. The twitter-user "lawscribe" explained to me what some of the policemen at UC Davis were really carrying on Friday:

Students are apparently on one level with a prison population these days, and the parents of the students from UC Davis might be interested to know that these pepperball guns can inflict very serious injuries, especially when they are being used at close range, and especially when the victim is being shot in the face.

Stephen Lippenholz spent Sunday and Monday in a hospital bed in Prince George’s Hospital Center, the right side of his face scarred and swollen.

He needed dime-sized plastic shell fragments removed from his cheek, surgery to restructure his broken nose, and 40 stitches to close a cheek wound after police shot him in the face with a pepper pellet gun.

Lippenholz is just one of many who ran from Route 1 Saturday night with welts from pepper ball gun wounds, crying as pepper spray burnt their eyes or wheezing from the tear gas polluting the air. A significant number are coming forward, saying they were severely injured or violently arrested while acting as bystanders in the melee.

“They gave no warning, they just started shooting,” said Lippenholz, a sophomore letters and sciences major. “I think it’s pretty ridiculous they were using those guns to control the fans. There are so many other kinds they could use.”

His father, Richard Lippenholz, expressed similar emotions.

“My understanding is that the police shouldn’t be shooting into the crowd blindly,” he said. “I don’t think anyone deserves to be blinded or killed because a sign was torn down.”

Picture from this article:

I might sound very old fashioned, but for me, the permission to the University police to carry such type of guns should be reason alone for Chancellor Linda Katehi to resign. Students easily could have been severely wounded and could have even lost their eyes. I am appalled about what is happening in parts of the western world and do hope that this trend to turn police forces into paramilitary organizations will stop.

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